LiveText FAQ

Putting together a portfolio of your work from your entire college career can be quite a difficult task, especially if your projects and papers are scattered throughout your living space. LiveText will help you manage your work before it turns into chaos.

LiveText is a development, management, and assessment program specifically designed for accredited universities. This program allows students to enter portfolio information and then share this information with potential employers. Instructors can also create assignments for students to complete through LiveText.

Frequently Asked Questions about LiveText

Q. In which courses will I be required to use LiveText?
A. The courses in which you will be required to complete LiveText assignments are determined by each instructor. You will be using LiveText mostly in ELED 4030, ELED 5100, and SCED 4210. However, regardless of whether there is a LiveText assignment required in a given course, you can still use the tool to create and store documents.

Q. How much does it cost, and how do I pay for it?
A. A subscription to LiveText is $98. This one-time fee provides membership valid for the entire time you are registered and enrolled at USU, plus an additional year after graduation. Your subscription includes unlimited use of the LiveText system, including online, backed-up storage of your work.

Q. How do I register for LiveText?
A. To register, you must have a key code which you can purchase through the USU bookstore or online at www.livetext.com.

Q. How will I use LiveText?
A. Collaboration: You can collaborate with other LiveText users through sharing. All of the work you store and organize in LiveText is totally private until you choose what to share and with whom. You can give other LiveText users access to selected materials and also determine whether they are allowed just to view them, to make comments on them or even to edit them just as you can. You also can share your work with non-subscribers to LiveText, but they can only view materials. Any LiveText user can establish a collaborative group at any time, and everyone in the group can work on documents together, when that is appropriate. This is different from BlackBoard where individuals can work together only if the instructor sets up a group. Collaboration through LiveText is not limited to individuals in one class.

Portfolios: Teacher education students are required to develop an electronic portfolio to demonstrate their proficiencies before graduation. Electronic portfolios are becoming increasingly common tools for job-seekers. You may choose to create an employment portfolio that differs from your graduation portfolio, but within LiveText you can reuse components from one portfolio in another quite easily. Maintaining multiple portfolios is very feasible. The ability to demonstrate your skills and talents through portfolio materials is beneficial regardless of your field. Once you create your e-portfolio in LiveText, you can make it available to anyone, including others who are not LiveText subscribers, by giving them an electronic Visitor’s Pass.

Assignments: When an instructor asks you to submit an assignment via LiveText, the instructor grades the assignment using a standards-aligned rubric, which is developed by the professor in LiveText. This electronic process helps students get the results of their submitted assignments quickly. Students may be asked to complete assignments using a specific template, which could help you be sure you are following the assignment accurately, without having to locate your syllabus to check the details.

Lesson Planning and Course Management: As you look ahead to student teaching, you can develop lessons in LiveText throughout your coursework and ultimately deliver them in the classroom using LiveText, as long as your classroom has internet access, which is now the norm. Furthermore, the school and your cooperating teacher do not need to be LiveText users themselves. You can build lesson plans that incorporate electronic resources and then deliver the lesson wherever you are teaching from your own account. The host site does not need to be a LiveText participant.

Q. Are there training sessions available so that I can learn how to use LiveText?
A. The School of Teacher Education and Leadership at USU is dedicated to providing you the finest learning opportunities available today. LiveText is an important part of the tool set that you will use throughout your program of study and one that you may well choose to continue to use beyond your initial subscription period. Training and support will be available during each semester.

Q. Will the LiveText software be compatible with my computer and other programs on it?
A. LiveText is a Web-based subscription service which only requires your computer (either PC or Mac) to have a web browser and an internet connection. No software is actually installed on your system. Since no software installation is required on the user’s computer, LiveText can easily be accessed from public access computers such as those at local schools and libraries. It also means that you will have access to your LiveText documents anywhere you have access to the internet.

Q. How can non-LiveText subscribers access my materials?
A. LiveText enables you to create a “visitor’s pass” that you give to whomever you wish. Recipients can then look at only the specific document to which you are granting access, and they cannot change it. This is how potential employers can view your work during the hiring process.

Q. Won’t my professors be able to look at my work in LiveText before it is finished?
A. Definitely not. Everything you do in LiveText is completely private until you decide to share a particular document with someone else or a group of individuals. As the creator of the material, you alone control access to it.

Q. I am a transfer student and used LiveText at my previous institution. Do I have to purchase a new account, or can I continue to use my current one?
A. Your LiveText account must be transferred from your old institution to USU. This request can be made by e-mailing support@livetext.com. Your e-mail message will need to include the following information.

  • The name of your old institution
  • Your old e-mail address (if you know what it was)
  • Your LiveText login name
  • Your new e-mail address
  • A statement that you wish to have your account moved from your old institution to USU.